1919 Austrian Constituent Assembly election

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Austria on 16 February 1919.^[1]

1919 Austrian Constituent Assembly election

← 1911 16 February 1919 1920 →
All 170 seats in the Constituent Assembly 86 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	84.49%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Karl Seitz Jodok Fink Party SDAPÖ CS and allies German-Nationals Seats won 72 69 26 Popular vote 1,211,393 1,068,259 547,058 Percentage 40.76% 35.94% 18.41%
Results of the election, showing seats won by constituency. Constituencies are shaded according to the first-place party. Representatives were appointed in crosshatched regions (South Tyrol and Lower Styria) where elections did not take place.
Chancellor before election Karl Renner SDAPÖ Elected Chancellor Karl Renner SDAPÖ

The Social Democratic Workers' Party emerged as the largest party, winning 72 of the 170 seats.^[2] The party was largely supported by the working class, whilst farmers and the middle class voted mainly for the anti-Anschluss Christian Social Party.^[3] Voter turnout was 84.4%. As Czechoslovakia prevented their eligible population from participating in the election, and Italy and Yugoslavia had gained control of South Tyrol (as a result of the 1915 Treaty of London) and Lower Styria (following border conflicts), respectively, voting only was held in small parts of those eligible territories, and representatives were instead appointed in proportion to parties' total overall vote share.

The first meeting of the assembly was on 4 March 1919. The Sudeten German Social Democrats organised a series of demonstrations in support of their right of self-determination. Across seven cities 54 persons were killed and another 84 wounded by the Czech military and police.^[4]

Electoral system

The members of the Constituent National Assembly were elected in multi-member constituencies having between four and nine seats each by proportional representation. The smallest constituency was originally set to elect three seats, but did not do so due to Yugoslavia having gained control of most of Lower Styria.

This election was the first election in which all women were allowed to vote.^[5] German citizens living in Austria, Lower Styria, and South Tyrol and Sudeten Germans living in the newly-formed Czechoslovakia were also allowed to vote in the elections, despite Czechoslovak objections. Austrian citizens living in Germany were also allowed to vote in the elections for the Weimar National Assembly in the same year.^[6]

Results

The two main parties, the SDAPÖ and the CS, formed a coalition government after the elections. Although it had broken up by mid-1920, it was followed for a short time by a transitional coalition of SDAPÖ, CS, and the Greater German People's Party, a successor of the German People's Party following a merger with the Greater German Union. Ultimately, a new constitution was agreed on 1 October 1920.^[3] Fresh elections were held on 17 October.

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	Social Democratic Workers' Party			1,211,393	40.76	72
	Christian Social Party and allies		Christian Social Party	687,465	23.13	47
			Lower Austrian Farmers' Union	222,304	7.48	12
			Christian Social Citizens' and Workers' Party	62,099	2.09	0
			Tyrolean Farmers' Association	50,361	1.69	3
			Tyrolean People's Club	46,030	1.55	7
		Total		1,068,259	35.94	69
	German-National parties		German-National Party	174,738	5.88	8
			German Democrats	64,073	2.16	3
			German People's Party	59,919	2.02	2
			German Freedom and Order Party	56,306	1.89	5
			Styrian Farmers' Party	47,021	1.58	3
			National Democrats	46,507	1.56	0
			Carinthian Farmers' Association	33,496	1.13	2
			National Socialist Workers' Party	23,252	0.78	0
			German Peoples' Election Committee	15,430	0.52	1
			Democratic Association of Cities	12,336	0.42	1
			Free Salzburg Farmers' League	8,507	0.29	1
			Democratic Economic Party	3,828	0.13	0
			German-Austrian People's Party	1,645	0.06	0
		Total		547,058	18.41	26
	Democratic parties		Centrist Democrats	48,995	1.65	1
			Democratic Party	15,053	0.51	0
			Democratic Middle-Class Party	5,960	0.20	0
			Economic People's Party	411	0.01	0
		Total		70,419	2.37	1
	United Czechoslovak Parties			67,396	2.27	1
	Jewish National Party			7,770	0.26	1
Total				2,972,295	100.00	170
Valid votes				2,972,295	99.16
Invalid/blank votes				25,239	0.84
Total votes				2,997,534	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				3,547,742	84.49
Source: Government of Austria

References

1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 196. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
2. Graham, Malbone W. (1930). "Foreign Governments and Politics: The Constitutional Crisis in Austria". The American Political Science Review. 24 (1): 144–157. doi:10.2307/1946794. JSTOR 1946794.
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p173
4. Suppan, Arnold. "Austrians, Czechs, and Sudeten Germans as a Community of Conflict in the Twentieth Century" (PDF). conservancy.umn.edu. Center for Austrian Studies, Minnesota. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
5. "85 Jahre allgemeines Frauenwahlrecht in Österreich". 2011-03-06. Archived from the original on 2011-03-06. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
6. AUSTRIA VOTES TODAY. - German Part of Former Dual Monarchy Chooses Its Constituent Assembly., The New York Times, February 16, 1919 (PDF)